An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

216 TIBET.courage had been equal to his size, to fight a hon. He kept me at baywitii a most clamorous bark, and 1 was a good deal startled at first ; butrecollecting their cowardly disposition, I stood still ; for having oncehad one in my possession, I knew that they were fierce only, whenthey perceived themselves feared. If I had attempted to run, he probablywould have flown upon me, and torn me inpieces, before anyone could have come to my rescue. Some person came out of thehouse, and he was soon silenced.If Bootan, compared with Bengal, exhibits a vast contrast of countryand climate, there isno nearer analogy between Tibet and Bootan.Bootan presents to the view, nothing but the most mishapen irregularities;mountains covered with eternal verdure, and rich with abundantforests of large and lofty trees.Almost every favourable aspect ofthem, coated with the smallest quantity of soil, is cleared and adaptedto cultivation, by being shelved into horizontal beds: not a slope ornarrow shp of land between the ridges, lies unimproved. There isscarcely a mountain, whose base isnot washed by some rapid torrent,and many of the loftiest,bear populous villages, amidst orchards, andother plantations, on their summits and on their sides. It combinesin its extent, the most extravagant traits of rude nature and laboriousart.Tibet, on the other hand, strikes a traveller, at first sight, as oneof the least favoured countries under heaven, and appears to be ina great measure incapable of culture. It exhibits only low rockyhills, without any visible vegetation, or extensive arid plains, bothof the most stern and stubborn aspect, promising full as little as they